The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1887-03-17


We have been permitted to make the following
extracts from private letter from Hlr. q. ".
Pitcher, formerly of Belfast, but now of Erechcn-
ridge, Colorado What Mr.. Pitcher says of o;ttle
raising in Maine and hay GROWN : Will be OF -!rc-
ial interest to our farmers rs he is well uualiGc'
to write these subjects. Mr.. Pitcher first iye-
nm interesting description Of breckenridge
Breckenridge, containing l2ta to uo inha'i
tant- lies in the valley of the Blue River, about
niue miles west of Hamilton Pass and ;orca- X.
IL. station ON the Continental Divide The <i
tu'le of Breckenridge is $500 feet, which is
than 1000 feet higher than the summit of Mt Wash
lnSton. Boreas railroad station i l,6do feet and
was established in 1851 when it WAS the highest
station in the world. since that time two stations
have been established 1T greater altudr-onc il
Colorado and one i'll the An'lc-. At Eorras the
waters divide and ran to the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans, the i;luc River which through the
center of Breckenridge running towards the Paci-
iic. In liarpcrS magazine for April, sti1. can he
found a long article relating To Breckenridge and
IT. surroundings, and III which it is said that the
construction Of a railway across the range Where
BoreaS now is was Impossible, but air brake had
not then been invented. Breckenridge itself lies
in Il sort of basin and is entirely -u,ruuidol hy
mountain peaks, some of them more than It,GG0
feet high. y may we'll he imagined the scenery
is grand. The pine trees cover the sides oi the
mountains to about i2oi,9 feet and above that line
called timber line, all is SHOW, and by moonlight
at this time of year the rang, the western side
al ihl> basin is grand beyond anything have ever
seen Brt >cnr-tlgc is situated in IN inmcnsc
mineral belt aml Immediately surrounding the
town are many gulshe from which were washed
in years gone liy many millions in gold. The
mountain sides, which of course furnish the
source "i suppl! of al that gold, were prospectci
but Very little until after the railroad reached this
place in l>s,. Now the prnspcctnY, are getting out
in full force and the results the future will deter
mine. We arr about twenty miles in an air line
from LcadN lille, The great carbonate ta!np, Mhch is
to-day producing more bullion than ever before,
and morr than any other mining camp in the
world except Butte Montana. on the heels Of
which Learvr CLOSELY follows.
The only great objection to the climate at This al
tAidr is the rarctc,l atmosphere, which makes it
very 'lihieult for new r"mcr- to breathe and the
heart beats more rapidly here 4 person grew, old
just that mtlch faster, fact easily verified by all
the "ul'l timers. No person >huuid como to this
altitude who has the least sign of heart disease
fur throa; and lung dicultit~ the clear air of the
Mountains Of Colorado and California is simply
Wonderful i'll il, beneficial effects. Mining covers
the Whole list 1T this altitude and agriculture is
out Of tic question. On the plains east of the
range, say at an altitude of 5,'E,o feet and in the
valley of the auuntains not exceeding .. .0oo feet
agriculture is pursued with good results, hu' il all
has t" hc dome with irrigation \ few years since
agriculture wa. highly profitable IN Col,ludo but
,b.l III
produce than va, needed for it, own consumption
the prices were iii once :soveru,l 10y the large
kct centre, of Chicago and other points. At this
distance from Chicago it i useless for Colorado To-
continue raising wheat except for ho,ur ronsu,ul'
ton. There i one thn- the ranches should
nearly all he turned into and that is the raising of
hay, Alfalfa especially, which i particularly
adapted to the soil and climate of Colorado at
1000 feet To Go01 feet altitude \ few uf the pin-
cipal ,anchmen az" rrco +uiljng this fact, but he
fore it is generally acted li"n there will he an i'm
men-r demand tor hay to iced the winter cattle
that run at large on the ranges through the sDuu-
mcr In other words, marked chln-, has come
to the cattle business all the great ranges of
the lntc'i States so long thrr. were ce,rnp1la
lively few cattle ami plenty of summer and winter
ranges they would tryd high IN the -rtrnmrr and
in= ul' and lranin-e within four or five ycaa~
that has been rapidly rh"n=in2, and o the winter
ranges have at length r'umr 'Ncr>tnchcd. Ihou~
andS upon thousands of cattlr are starving to
tcath "day many of the ranges. For Instance
read tine Latest accounts from Montana, where
more snow ha- come this ~.l~"m than usual. Tni-
state of things can only he a,mydi,.j "f cou!-"
hl raising immense amount, of h;t& tor winter
feeGiH-s, tHc#u>c the immense herj~ VII, in ilc
-iitntn,I being So cEuW,i,,. CROP ;t thy sr:D-- 81
both high aul low attitudes. l!r,.rv all ta.r
ranches, within easy yvach Ut ,in tpuHtni1-. 'l}
hayr H malhrt At hrnr fn! al. t' !H, th'l -.M
ra,-a, aud ii viii prove very profitable. =. :t
here r.. me speak WORT u to prai;- in i'y #ttl
stock raising in tiy state oI Maine. The h,.-,v
lnlHi"n Of my business III huam Nh W1ih ;.r
farmrr~-snfi certainly can speak int'iii-rutj
pn Hay II ipa-i Woad for the tJdur, ..l.c rrs
rhanc,- fora lrnti ~ hay ar,t cattle t-l,- .' tAr
~tatr II Maine, n .lljch i ~ IN C"l.r.r.s. Nh,u
catrl inu-j h, f,d Maine i uoi too ;lr ,.fl- .hu
c,o,r 'hr climate thr urore uitrj;l1I- ;!'r hag
and Maine illy r;t}iunt he ~l;ril--cl. iu ulhyr
Ltitl,le~ for Iu~tanrr, except Il; ht@u attitudes,
the iiay i almost Snluc.--. In Ma,nr We itr' near
=roat uathet- lnl hrci and hlyr hc-Idr4 the 9I
Wand. r. of competition between Natter and ram
traH- p"rai"n. Here we are Il hong ,i-laIc, from
great market centre and the i.lr,au~, .lyiu. ul
water competition. viii -,".grc Ijr, u- pi iruGt-
of every Industry ii they can. '' trlv,aIo I'm
particular we hope. however, for .~clt benefits to
result from the Inter State Commerce. L.U. Nhru
Francisco can ~4p some eastern 4,,ui- INTO
toora,Io, AMI eli Them at i.-~ price, tl,au the,
can he sold or here dlrcctN from the cts. it j.
safe +" ~;l il is time ton ai Mt,r state Commerce